CASSOPOLIS — The Cass County Board of Commissioners will consider several administrative requests from the county sheriff’s office during its next meeting Thursday in Cassopolis.

Cass County Sheriff Richard Behnke presented two motions to the seven-member board during its committee of the whole meeting Tuesday morning, inside the commissioner chambers of the county annex.

The first motion was for payment of a $5,040 invoice from Merit Network Inc. for the backup network connection between the county’s 911 Center and its radio tower in Jones, while the second was a contract renewal for police services between the sheriff’s office and Marcellus Township.

The board advanced both motions to its meeting later this week, where they will be voted on for formal adoption.

The invoice payment request is for one year of Ethernet network services between the 911 Center, located next to the county building in Cassopolis, and its radio tower in Jones, good from Oct. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2018. The fiber network is meant to serve as a backup connection in case the sheriff’s office radio system experiences any problems, Behnke said.

This is the first year that Merit has billed the county for the backup network, the sheriff said.

However, the company uses the basement of the 911 Center as a hub for other fiber network connections in the area, such as the Lewis Cass Intermediate School District and Southwestern Michigan College, Behnke said. As such, the sheriff’s office is expected to generate $4,200 for the service.

“It [the payment] is kind of a wash,” Behnke said.

Behnke’s other request, the contract renewal between his office and Marcellus Township, will also run for one year if approved, from Jan. 1, 2018, to Dec. 31, 2018.

The contract calls for the sheriff’s office to provide police coverage for the township and village of Marcellus, for at least 40 hours per week. Behnke said that the county has had a service agreement with the township since 1999.

Other provisions of the contract include:

• Marcellus Township will provide $115,383 worth of funding for the police service, and 100 percent of the telephone fees

• The sheriff or one of his command staff will determine the work schedule and have the ability to hire, manage, discipline or terminate officers

• One vehicle will be assigned to the township. If the vehicle is pulled out of service for maintenance, another vehicle from the county fleet will be pulled in to maintain coverage, and must provide updates to the board of all activities

• The sheriff or a designee will be required attend monthly meetings of the township board.

The township board has already approved of the 2018 contact, meaning it will go into effect should the commissioners approve it Thursday.